{"id":53707,"date":"2020-05-28T00:24:24","date_gmt":"2020-05-28T06:24:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/democrats-approve-rule-to-allow-remote-voting-in-colorado-legislature\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T04:05:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T10:05:41","slug":"democrats-approve-rule-to-allow-remote-voting-in-colorado-legislature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/democrats-approve-rule-to-allow-remote-voting-in-colorado-legislature\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats approve rule to allow remote voting in Colorado Legislature"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Lawmakers
Lawmakers packed into the House floor on Tuesday. Democratic lawmakers approved a rule change to allow remote voting during the legislative session as a means to avoid the Capitol during the coronavirus pandemic.<\/span>Jesse Paul\/The Colorado Sun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

With party-line votes, the General Assembly approved new rules Wednesday that allow lawmakers to cast votes remotely during a public health emergency, suspending the long tradition of requiring senators and representatives to appear in person to make their voices heard.<\/p>\n

The new rules are expected to take effect for votes Thursday in the House and Senate chambers. House Majority Leader Alec Garnett, D-Denver, called it a \u201climited temporary change that allows for our colleagues to represent their districts, cast their votes and make sure their constituents are not voiceless.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is new,\u201d he continued. \u201cThis has not been done before in this chamber, but we are facing a 100-year health pandemic that has turned our lives upside down.\u201d<\/p>\n

The resolution introduced in each chamber spurred hours of heated debate as Republicans opposed remote voting and used it as a proxy to object to public health orders put in place to stop the spread of the coronavirus.<\/p>\n

Rep. Larry Liston, R-Colorado Springs, said the rule change appeared well intended but voters expected lawmakers to show up. \u201cThey expect us to be here and that the voting should be a matter of conviction not just a matter of convenience,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd yes, we have to make sacrifices even in difficult times, even if it puts us in a dangerous situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liston compared lawmakers to soldiers storming the beach at Normandy to do their jobs despite the risk, and Rep. Richard Holtorf, an Akron Republican, suggested those who did not show at the Capitol were \u201cAWOL,\u201d which stands for absent without leave.<\/p>\n

The legislature resumed lawmaking Tuesday after a two-month pause because of concerns about the spread of the COVID-19 disease. As many as 17 states allow some form of remote participation in the legislative process, according to Democratic lawmakers, citing data from the bipartisan National Conference of State Legislatures.<\/p>\n

In Colorado, many lawmakers remain anxious about being exposed to the disease while in the Capitol despite new safety protocols. Three House Democrats \u2013 all members of the black caucus \u2013 did not attend the first two days because of health conditions and concerns about the outsized impact of the virus on minorities.<\/p>\n

The race factor played a major role in the House debate, as Democratic allies of the absent lawmakers objected to Republican criticism of those who didn\u2019t show. \u201cDo you want them to die?\u201d asked state Rep. Leslie Herod, D-Denver.<\/p>\n

The criticism even prompted one of the absent lawmakers, Rep. Jovan Melton, D-Aurora, to get in his car and drive to the Capitol to speak on the resolution.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be compared to a person that went AWOL, to be compared to a soldier that wasn\u2019t willing to do their duty, that hurt,\u201d said Melton, who has a lingering heart condition after a bout with pneumonia in January. \u201cAnd it\u2019s a shame that I had to drive across town against my doctor\u2019s orders to speak up and ask for some compassion.\u201d<\/p>\n

The resolutions, which would only apply when a public health emergency is declared, would allow for remote votes to be cast during debate on the chamber floors \u2014 such as final votes before a measure passes. Legislators would still have to show up in person to participate and vote in committee hearings.<\/p>\n

Members of the public are not being allowed to participate remotely.<\/p>\n

The chamber floors are the most crowded area of the Capitol. Lawmakers sit just feet apart from each other and space between desks is extremely limited.<\/p>\n

In order to decrease the risk of coronavirus transmission, clear plastic barriers have been installed in the House between lawmakers and some legislators have been relocated to spaces in the gallery to increase spacing.<\/p>\n

In the Senate, lawmakers have been moved to seating at the chamber\u2019s perimeter and every other desk has been left vacant to keep the virus from spreading.<\/p>\n

Republicans also objected to how Democrats made the change \u2013 suggesting a shift in the rules should need a two-thirds supermajority vote or a new bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want everybody to be safe,\u201d said Sen. Paul Lundeen, a Monument Republican. \u201cBut there\u2019s certain challenges (about) what\u2019s going on here that make us very uncomfortable. \u2026 It seems to be a bit of a power grab by the majority party politicians.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lundeen said he\u2019s worried that the resolutions don\u2019t allow for Republican input in the process, giving Democrats the ability to impose whatever regulations they\u2019d like. He also worries about remote voting cutting into the time-honored tradition of cloistering lawmakers on the floor when they are taking votes, which he sees as being aimed at preventing them from being influenced by outside forces and voices during policymaking.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho knows what\u2019s going on outside of someone\u2019s home if they are remote voting from their home?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"House
House Majority Leader Alec Garnett, D-Denver, addresses the chamber on Tuesday.<\/span>Jesse Paul\/The Colorado Sun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Capitol remains open to the public and if people would like to testify in support of or opposition to a bill they must appear in person. Lawmakers are encouraging people to submit written testimony, but they will not allow remote testimony by phone or video for the public.<\/p>\n

Prior to the pandemic, in some situations, lawmakers could request remote testimony for the public. It\u2019s not clear if those requests would be possible during the current lawmaking term, which has been shortened because of coronavirus.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, journalist-owned news outlet exploring issues of statewide interest. Sign up for a newsletter and read more at coloradosun.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Republicans oppose change, urge lawmakers to show up, regardless of risk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":53708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[394,685,28,29,668],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-53707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-colorado-legislature","tag-coronavirus-covid-19","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter","tag-public-health"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53707"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88346,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53707\/revisions\/88346"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53707"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=53707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}